Wild pace and mystical Moscow. Mini-series "Where Artemisia Blooms" pleasantly surprised
Miscellaneous / / July 03, 2023
The story of a high school student suffering from visions will certainly find its audience, but it is unlikely to appeal to everyone.
On July 1, the streaming service Kion presented the series "Where Artemisia Blooms". It is based on the book of the same name by Olga Ptitseva, published in 2022. Interestingly, filming began even before the publication of the literary source.
The series starred Victoria Agalakova ("Epidemic"), Sabina Akhmedova ("Kept Women"), Artyom Tkachenko ("Vampires of the Middle Band"), Rinal Mukhametov ("Attraction"). The director of the series was Kirill Kuzin ("Sergius against evil spirits").
Due to an accident, high school student Ulyana is left without a family: her brother dies, and her mother falls into a coma. At the same time, the girl discovers a gift - she can predict someone else's death. Ulyana suffers from intrusive visions and is ready to do everything to get rid of them. Witch Ruta offers her a deal: for the help of her mother and getting rid of the visions, the high school student should bring the things of dead people.
wild pace
Events in "Where Wormwood Blooms" develop at lightning speed. This is understandable: the original book has 575 pages, but it is told in an hour and a half. New characters appear and are immediately revealed without much prelude. Accuracy and concentration are definitely not the features of the series.
The high pace does not let you get bored, but sometimes plays against the series. Some things have to be said quickly instead of revealed gradually. Because of this, the characters look superficial, and the plot is predictable. Good actors and vivid images smooth out the problem, but not enough to stop noticing it.
Teenage naivete
“Where wormwood blooms” - first of all teen story. Hence the slightly childish naivete in the plot. Despite the seriousness of the topic (we are talking about a teenager who loses his family), some elements look somehow kitchevo - from the beginning of the plot to contacts with witches. This is hardly a minus, rather a cost of the format: teen series are always like that.
At the same time, the project is quite emotional - sometimes too much. This is backed up by music: teenage pop to the gap enhances feelings. But first of all, emotionality is explained by a high pace, where everything needs to be shown faster, brighter and more understandable.
Naivety is manifested not only in overly vivid emotions, but also in the invented world as such. Its rules and laws are explained in the very first episode, later they are too clear and simple, as if you are reading a children's fairy tale.
Sometimes she pleases with locations - each of them turned out to be bright, elaborate, but the movements between them look peculiar. It will not be strange to compare with "night watch”, where the whole of Moscow looked like a place of battle between good and evil: in “Wormwood” it was as if not the whole city was involved, but its individual places.
Bad format
In "Where Wormwood Blooms" there are six episodes of 15 minutes each. Given that they came out immediately, the series looks like a standard feature film. The problem is that every episode ends with a cliffhanger. Okay, when they are shoved at the end of the hour-long episodes, but every 15 minutes a "very serious twist" looks not only predictable, but also intrusive. Perhaps in the format of a full-length film, the story would have looked more organic.
"Where the Wormwood Blooms" is a series in which any advantage is inextricably linked with a disadvantage. The high, dashing pace of the narrative gives rise to superficiality, bright characters make the story naive. If while watching the problems are annoying, then by the end you get used to them, and the overall impression is rather positive. Probably, if it was about another American series, then it could be skipped. But how often do mystical dramas about teenagers are filmed in Russia?
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